Helpless vs Hopeless
Helpless vs Hopeless
Throughout my years of being a father, I can’t say I’ve ever truly felt hopeless. I’ve felt helpless countless times. I’ve sat in hospital rooms for hours upon hours upon hours with my girls and have felt absolutely helpless so many times. When both of my girls were born, I’ve felt helpless in a way I never have before. I can encourage and support, but, in that moment, I was helpless in birthing my babies.
After our first daughter was born, she spent five days in the NICU. Talk about a helpless feeling. It’s an extremely difficult thing to have to leave the hospital without your baby. Yet God was in control. We had nurses that held and even prayed over her.
With our second daughter, we’ve been through asthma that flares up every now and then and some pretty nasty viruses and ear infections. I could probably get some college credit hours in pediatrics with all the info I’ve collected over the years. We’ve been through a lot medically; yet God has always been in control.
Feeling helpless comes often when we paddle into storms that seem difficult and almost overtake us. Feeling helpless can make you struggle with trust, or at least challenge it. Feeling helpless is natural when things are out of your control. That’s the exact difference between helpless and hopeless.
Helpless says it’s beyond your control.
Hopeless says it’s beyond God’s control.
Helpless can make you run to the Father.
Hopeless can make you run from Him.
When you get to the point of helpless it makes you reach out to others. When you get to the point of hopeless there’s no point in reaching out to anyone or anything for help. Because if you’ve lost hope, you’ve given up. And if you’ve given up it’s impossible to make progress because you’ve chosen to refuse to move forward.
In life, we are often times faced with adversity, but that adversity doesn’t get to choose helpless or hopeless for us - we do. Helpless is a perspective, but hopeless is a position. And perspectives can be changed easier than positions can.
The Bible talks an awful lot about hope. There are many examples in Scripture that we could use or pull from, but I want to look at one specifically. Colossians 1:27 talk about the glorious mystery “which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” If we have Christ in us, we have confidence (hope) that we will one day be with Him in glory.
Here’s the issue with that word hope. Our culture has watered down how it’s applied. Nowadays, we use the word hope as an uncertainly - as a wish. We say things like “I hope it rains today my grass needs it.” This is not how the Bible uses hope. The Bible uses the word hope as a certainly - as with confidence on a sure thing. Because hope with and in God is a sure thing.
When the Bible uses the word hope in Colossians 1:27, the Greek word used is elpis. It literally translates to hope, expectation, trust, and confidence. Our hope in God through Christ brings an expectation. It brings confidence. So if we’ve “lost all hope” then we’ve lost all trust, confidence, and expectation in God. That’s essentially saying that God is no longer in control. That the situation we are in is even outside of His control.
If left unchecked, helpless can turn hopeless. That’s why it’s so important to hang around like-minded people who can help when you’re feeling helpless. But this is also why it’s so important to speak up and tell someone when you’re feeling helpless. We all need some help every now and then.
I think if things are just outside our control, that can be a good thing. It leaves room for God to work. It makes us lean on Him that much more. Think about it - if you could do everything on your own why would you need God? You would never be helpless because you could do it on your own. Although, I will say, it’s possible to live this life totally on your own and for yourself, virtually never helpless, and be completely hopeless.
Helpfulness keeps our hearts connected to one another. Hopefulness keeps our hearts connected to our Father’s. One of the best exercises for your heart is helping someone that feels helpless or even hopeless. And just maybe, your helpfulness to someone else is the antidote for your own helplessness. And the hope you have in Christ is the antidote for someone else who is feeling hopeless.
And no one is beyond hope, but some are beyond help. Because they don’t want it. They don’t want help. That’s where the Holy Spirit has to work and do what only He can.
So will you reach out and offer hope and help to the world around you that needs it?
I sure hope so.
Throughout my years of being a father, I can’t say I’ve ever truly felt hopeless. I’ve felt helpless countless times. I’ve sat in hospital rooms for hours upon hours upon hours with my girls and have felt absolutely helpless so many times. When both of my girls were born, I’ve felt helpless in a way I never have before. I can encourage and support, but, in that moment, I was helpless in birthing my babies.
After our first daughter was born, she spent five days in the NICU. Talk about a helpless feeling. It’s an extremely difficult thing to have to leave the hospital without your baby. Yet God was in control. We had nurses that held and even prayed over her.
With our second daughter, we’ve been through asthma that flares up every now and then and some pretty nasty viruses and ear infections. I could probably get some college credit hours in pediatrics with all the info I’ve collected over the years. We’ve been through a lot medically; yet God has always been in control.
Feeling helpless comes often when we paddle into storms that seem difficult and almost overtake us. Feeling helpless can make you struggle with trust, or at least challenge it. Feeling helpless is natural when things are out of your control. That’s the exact difference between helpless and hopeless.
Helpless says it’s beyond your control.
Hopeless says it’s beyond God’s control.
Helpless can make you run to the Father.
Hopeless can make you run from Him.
When you get to the point of helpless it makes you reach out to others. When you get to the point of hopeless there’s no point in reaching out to anyone or anything for help. Because if you’ve lost hope, you’ve given up. And if you’ve given up it’s impossible to make progress because you’ve chosen to refuse to move forward.
In life, we are often times faced with adversity, but that adversity doesn’t get to choose helpless or hopeless for us - we do. Helpless is a perspective, but hopeless is a position. And perspectives can be changed easier than positions can.
The Bible talks an awful lot about hope. There are many examples in Scripture that we could use or pull from, but I want to look at one specifically. Colossians 1:27 talk about the glorious mystery “which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” If we have Christ in us, we have confidence (hope) that we will one day be with Him in glory.
Here’s the issue with that word hope. Our culture has watered down how it’s applied. Nowadays, we use the word hope as an uncertainly - as a wish. We say things like “I hope it rains today my grass needs it.” This is not how the Bible uses hope. The Bible uses the word hope as a certainly - as with confidence on a sure thing. Because hope with and in God is a sure thing.
When the Bible uses the word hope in Colossians 1:27, the Greek word used is elpis. It literally translates to hope, expectation, trust, and confidence. Our hope in God through Christ brings an expectation. It brings confidence. So if we’ve “lost all hope” then we’ve lost all trust, confidence, and expectation in God. That’s essentially saying that God is no longer in control. That the situation we are in is even outside of His control.
If left unchecked, helpless can turn hopeless. That’s why it’s so important to hang around like-minded people who can help when you’re feeling helpless. But this is also why it’s so important to speak up and tell someone when you’re feeling helpless. We all need some help every now and then.
I think if things are just outside our control, that can be a good thing. It leaves room for God to work. It makes us lean on Him that much more. Think about it - if you could do everything on your own why would you need God? You would never be helpless because you could do it on your own. Although, I will say, it’s possible to live this life totally on your own and for yourself, virtually never helpless, and be completely hopeless.
Helpfulness keeps our hearts connected to one another. Hopefulness keeps our hearts connected to our Father’s. One of the best exercises for your heart is helping someone that feels helpless or even hopeless. And just maybe, your helpfulness to someone else is the antidote for your own helplessness. And the hope you have in Christ is the antidote for someone else who is feeling hopeless.
And no one is beyond hope, but some are beyond help. Because they don’t want it. They don’t want help. That’s where the Holy Spirit has to work and do what only He can.
So will you reach out and offer hope and help to the world around you that needs it?
I sure hope so.
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